1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seat cover fixing construction for fixing a seat cover to a seat, such as for example a seat of a passenger vehicle such as an automobile, and in particular relates to such a seat cover fixing construction in which the seat cover is secured to the seat by the use of a peripheral endless band which is turned inside out.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For fixing a seat cover to a seat, various fixing constructions have been proposed in the prior art. One particular such construction has been one in which the peripheral edge of the seat cover has been attached to an endless fixing band made of an appropriately stiff and rigid, yet elastic, material, such as, for example, ABS resin, polypropylene resin, vinyl chloride resin, AS resin, or the like. This edging band is formed like a frame, and in more detail is constructed from a ribbon shaped piece of said stiff material which is looped round and closed to itself, with the cross section of said ribbon at any point therealong being substantially an elongated rectangle the long side of which is substantially perpendicular to the general plane of the band. Such a band in perspective view looks generally like FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawings, which is applicable to this prior art as well as to the present invention, as will be explained later. The seat cover is placed over the seat to which it is to be attached, and then the fixing band is turned inside out, inwards to the inside of the seat cover. In other words, the lower edges of the band are pushed inwards and upwards while the upper edges thereof are pulled outwards and downwards around said inner edges, until the band flips around so that its former inner surface now becomes its outer surface and vice versa, with the lower edge portion of the seat cover now wrapped down over and around to the inside of said band. If the seat structure is appropriately arranged so that this inversion or turning inside out of the edging band of the seat cover causes said band now to be engaged around a lower part of the seat structure in a secure and positive manner, this can provide an ingenious, simple, cheap, and yet secure method for quickly fixing a seat cover to a seat without the use of special tools. Further, the seat cover can be quickly and easily detached from the seat, should that be necessary at any time, simply by reversing the turning inside out of the edging band thereof and by then lifting the seat cover off the seat.
However, a disadvantage exists with this prior art form of seat cover fixing construction, as follows. Since the twisting of the edging band of the seat cover to invert it is required to be fairly easily performed when fitting the seat cover, the twisting rigidity of said edging band around its central axial line is required to be fairly small, and according to this, when the seat is subjected to severe use conditions, as when a particularly corpulent person sits in the seat and slides to and fro thereon, there is a risk that the severe pulling of the seat cover caused thereby may twist the peripheral fixing band and cause it to come away from the part of the seat over which it is inverted, in the most extreme case again inverting this band and causing the seat cover to come away from the seat. Accordingly, a requirement has arisen for a form of seat cover construction which avoids this weakness.